Discusses several philosophies of linguistics and semiotics that debate the importance of words and their relationship to signs, language as the primary modeling system, and the historical primacy of verbal versus visual communication. Describes human communication as both language-based and nonverbal, both aspects inviting arbitrary and abstract…

A study evaluated use of Conceptests in a large pharmacy lecture course. Multiple-choice questions test students' ability to apply a concept presented in lecture to a situation not yet encountered. Students are presented with two or three Conceptests during each lecture, and must reevaluate responses after 15 minutes of additional lecture.…

Describes the development of a computer-based learning courseware that presented associative learning between abstract and concrete domains and discusses results of a study of college students that determined whether various audio-visual combinations and differences in IQ levels influenced learning and long-term retention using the courseware.…

The Internet introduces something quite new into ordinary everyday communication. It is now possible to carry on extensive interactions with other people without being fully present or even identifying oneself. While this has always been the case to some extent with the use of written and printed communication, as well as with telephone, radio,…

This study was conducted at the University of Windsor (Ontario) to determine whether an intensive introductory course in filmmaking cultivates spatial visualization and abstract reasoning, and whether success in filmmaking is directly related to one's level of spatial visualization and abstract reasoning. In order to test the research hypotheses,…

One purpose of this research is to develop models of cognitive processes in understanding mechanical systems. A particular focus was on the processes in mentally animating the representation of a mechanical system, and the contribution of animation graphics in comprehension. Several studies, involving eye fixations, verbal protocols, and process…

Instruction in English for academic purposes can be enhanced by an approach using metadiscourse, or an awareness of the operations of discourse. Student competence in this area would improve the ability to appreciate the strategies of academic writers, describe the arguments of others, and write academic essays, particularly introductions. In…

Well-known questioning strategies, built on question classification systems, are examined. Types of question classification systems are identified as: "hierarchical," which are sequential and cumulative; "non-hierarchical," which are based on elements which should not be rank ordered; systems which are "context-bound" to specifics; and…

This paper examines the neurobiology of fluid cognitive functions of the prefrontal cortex and considers learning disability as a specific example of a group of developmental disorders characterized by fluid skills impairment in the presence of crystallized intelligence in the normal range. Research indicating fluid cognitive impairments in…

The author discusses the reactions and feelings black participants in T-groups experience. He suggests that integration of intellectualizing with emotional expression and using a common simple language would provide a more productive experience for black participants in groups. (SE)

According to the literature on cognitive style, of utmost importance to critical thinking is the organization of segments of information into a comprehensive whole. Creative thinking is a process in which a person becomes aware of a problem or difficulty, searches for possible solutions from past experience, and evaluates, modifies, and tests…

Four experiments were conducted to explore issues in the development and modification of both moral choices and judgments of achievement using concepts and data from a social judgment perspective. In the first experiment, college students functioning at different reasoning levels indicated on a 20-point scale their strength of belief that an…

This study describes the relationship of two cognitive variables, logical thinking and disembedding ability, to learners' abilities to make conceptual shifts from less acceptable to more acceptable conceptual understandings of a physical phenomenon. The difference in the logical thinking and disembedding ability of students who exhibited different…

A student researcher at a nonprofit, university-based family center for learning-disabled and underachieving students designed and implemented a 7-week practicum intervention meant to improve the ability of four first and second grade level students to use reasoning skills. Piagetian theory regarding expected levels of cognitive development was…

This paper reviews some literature on the emergence of formal reasoning and reports a study of reasoning performance of 213 middle grade students in relationship to grade level and chronological age. While a number of large-scale studies have indicated that formal reasoning emerges in a regular progression across age ranges and grade levels, few…